NTSB Hearings on Crash of UPS 1354 Reinforce
Need for One Level of Safety

WASHINGTON—Today, the Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l (ALPA), reiterated its support for immediate passage of the
Safe Skies Act of 2013 that would end the “cargo carve-out” and help ensure that
every pilot is a well-rested pilot.

“As we learn more about the events leading to
the UPS crash in Birmingham, Alabama, it is becoming more apparent that separate
rest requirements for cargo and passenger pilots is unsustainable,
unsupportable, and unconscionable,” said Capt. Lee Moak, president of ALPA.
“Pilots who operate in the same skies, take off from the same airports, and fly
over the same terrain must be given the same opportunities for full rest,
regardless of what is in the back of the plane.”

Earlier this year, the FAA implemented FAR 117,
which established strict rest-requirements for passenger pilots; however, these
rules don’t apply to cargo pilots. ALPA was fully engaged in the FAA’s Aviation
Rulemaking Committee regarding pilot fatigue and has long maintained that the
new flight- and duty-time limits and minimum-rest requirements must cover all
airline pilots. Science-based studies show that all airline pilots experience
fatigue in the same ways, regardless of whether they are transporting passengers
or cargo.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest
pilot union, representing nearly 50,000 pilots at 31 airlines in the United
States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at
www.alpa.org or follow us on Twitter
@WeAreALPA.